Wichita eagle., 1887-05-22
THE GREAT BUDDHA.
A GIGANTIC MASS OF GOLD THAT
IS WORSHIPED IN JAPAN.

IS WORSHIPED IN JAPAN.
A Head and Shoulders Only, Ninety-hvo
Feet High-Lauehter Right Under the
Gods Nose-Ringing tho Great Bell OF
Kioto.
The temple of Dali Doutsou the great
Buddha) seems a temple built for fun-an
enormous joke to amuse the faithful
This "Great Buddha' has only a head
and shoulders, at least ninety-fve feet
high; he seems to be rising from the
depths of the earth, with his neck stretch
ing up like some one making painful
effort to struggle out of the ground. He
alone fills all his temple, and his curling
hair touches its roof
One reaches him, just as all the gods
are reached, by series of stairways, porti-
Goes and courts. From the gate OF the
sanctuary one can not very well explain
to oneself at the first glance what is that
hillock of gold, that shapeless mass in
front the shoulders of Buddha). 1t is
only afterward, when you look up very
high, that you see far above you the colos-
sal gilded face, the huge fixed eyes gazing
down upon you from the height OF ninety
feet with idiotic placidity.
find myself making this pilgrimage at
the same time as good natured Nippon
family of country people, who have come
to the holy city for the first time; and the
good folks, especially the ladies, cannot
get over the idea of seeing so big god;
and there are cries of "Ah!' and
Ohn'-exclamations of smprise-little
screams and little laughs. Now, really this
Buddha is just too funny, with his stork-
like neck and his stupid air-funny as any
of those snow men which urchins make at
the corners of the streets-funny as some
enormous caricature made to order by
little children. And there the little coun-
try family are all laughing right under
the gods nose-laughing till the tears roll
down their cheeks, and the other visitors,
and even the guardian bronzes themselves,
also laugh to see them laugh. Then they
all look at me to see how I feel about it,
and 1 have to laugh, too-can't possibly
help it. What country this Japan,
where everything is oddity and contrastI
Who could ever imagine that this frivolous
little temple, with its reverences and its
eternal laugh, could have lived through
centuries locked up in such ferocious mys-
terry, and have given birth to those thou
sands of other temples, with their monsters
and their hobgoblins?
MAKING THE ROUND.
By the payment of two cents one Is
privileged to make the round of the great
Buddha-one ascends by series Of slop-
ing plank galleries, placed at very steep
angle on which you can pass behind the
head of the colossus, little above the
nape of the neck. advance upon it, still
accompanied by the voyaging family; the
sloping way is slippery, old, broken
through here and there, worm eaten-the
ladies very nearly fall I put out my hand
to help them, and then we become good
| friends right away. Behind the enormous
| head, in a dark nook, an old bronze is
squatting down-for one cent he shows rs
| q suit of armor and war mask which
once belonged to the great Taiko-Sama-
| and then he throws open for our benefit
sundry very ancient idol closets, in which
| animal headed divinities are conserved
| with various relics Of weird aspect. There
| we do not laugh any more.
In the court of this temple is the most
| monstrous of all the bells of Kioto-at
least seven or perhaps eight yards around.
| 1t Is rung by means of an enormous beam
| tipped with iron-a sort of battering ram
| suspended horizontally with ropes.
| For two cents extra one has the right to
! experiment with it. I harness myself to
the pulling straps, circle is formed
around me, and children run up. Even
two or three young girls come behind me
to take hold, bothering me great deal
pulling the wrong way half the time
bursting into fits Of laughter. The united
strength Of the three is almost equal tt
the power of three good kittens.
Meanwhile the battering ram begins t.
yield; gradually it begins to swing
Boom! boom! A sound awful, cavernous
and prolonged into mighty orchestra
| vibrations which must be heard through
the whole of the sacred city.
Then the audience is so happy!--delirious
with joy-can't get enough of it; every ont
laughs, every one is in ecstasy.-New
Orleans Tirnes-Democrat's Translation
| from the French.